


robbing fate

by hovercraft



Category: Fate/Grand Order
Genre: Gilgamesh (Fate) Being Gilgamesh (Fate), I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, sort of a sex scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-04-16
Packaged: 2020-01-14 23:18:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,282
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18486466
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hovercraft/pseuds/hovercraft
Summary: Gilgamesh thinks that Arthur's future is just so /unfair/... so he resolves to change it, whether Arthur likes it or not.





	robbing fate

i.

 

The first time Gilgamesh lays eyes on Arthur, he’s captivated by how unobtainable he is.

The good King who hails from an alternate universe, snagged by Chaldea in rare happenstance. An Arturia who looked at him with kind eyes and gave him the benefit of the doubt. He had to take care around this golden retriever of a man, so dutiful and so kind, who will wander as long as he’s summoned to take care of a monstrosity he spoke to no one about. A man who has seen wasteland after wasteland in his travels. Someone who existed after his death to fight, and only fight—Gilgamesh thinks it’s beautiful, and spins his web to lead him astray. In the noble heart of Arthur Pendragon, nothing was so desired as peace after a long journey, and Gilgamesh was intent on ending the journey here.

How had he won over Kirei? Through persistence and sly words deterring him from the path of God. He only needed to throw a pebble in the water to cause the ripples that would become the hurricane that was Kirei, but to change Arthur, he needed to do more than skip stones.

Precious. Priceless. Unforgettable. With Arturia he has all of humankind’s time and maybe more to humor his time with her. Anything that happens in this universe, Gilgamesh oversees and but never has he peeked outside of it or bothered wondering if he wanted more. He was content until Arthur showed his face and suddenly he’s jealous of the alternate version of himself who gets to keep Arthur longer than Ritsuka’s life span.

All treasures already belong to Gilgamesh, but he needs a grail now more than ever.

 

ii.

 

“You are more fascinating than my other self gives you credit for.”

 _Naturally_ , Gilgamesh thinks, but he preens with Arthur’s words anyway. It is summer, and the beautiful waves washing up on the shoreline as other servants get to play like they’ve forgotten Holy Grail wars. Arthur is dressed down in white shorts and an open shirt, and Gilgamesh is flipping through hundreds of encounters for the best method of seduction.

“I am the King of Heroes, after all. My legend endured all of humankind’s attempts to destroy it. It’s only natural through everything that I remain a beacon for humanity. In my mind alone rests hundreds of gormless stories of heroes of my era, lost to the ages, now rusting away out of sight and memories. It is a survival of the fittest to endure in humanity’s mind, and no one more fit exists than I.”

Arthur chuckles, knowing well that this Gilgamesh would grow out of his ego to become the wise king someday. Still, there’s truth to his words that he won’t deny. Gilgamesh may be egotistical, but he’s rarely ever a liar. Capable of atrocities against anyone and everyone in the Holy Grail wars, which Arthur doesn’t know about and won’t know about. It is by lie of omission that Gilgamesh begins his seduction, where the proud King meets the humble King, and they teach each other what lies at the middle of the road between them.

“You, too, have persisted. Against time, against rival legends.” Gilgamesh muses. “And against this very reality itself, you have come and joined us, forging a pact with Ritsuka that will last as long as Chaldea sustains you. This world’s woman Arthur is one of the most fascinating people I have ever met. You are like her in your morals, but you differ in one key way.”

“What’s that?”

“You are giving me a chance.”

Arthur laughs. “You haven’t given me a reason to doubt you.”

“Mm-hm.” And it was very deliberately that way. “I think we differ in the best ways. I am… fascinated by you.”

“And I, you.” Arthur responds politely. “You differ quite a bit from my King Gilgamesh, I daresay for the better.” The difference was in the attraction that Gilgamesh quite obviously held for him, and that pulling him into a seduction that Arthur is barely aware of. There is something addicting about being complimented by Arturia’s soul in another’s body. He keens for more of it.

“Humanity interests me far more than the world of gods. Gods treat meetings like this as casual happenstance, impossibilities as everyday life. I, for one, can appreciate that King Arthur stands in front of me, having broken the barrier of another world to slip in and fight beside me.” Gilgamesh brushes Arthur’s cheek in a way that bridges the gap between acquaintances and a sudden romantic interest. “And appreciate it I do.”

Arthur blushes, and for a moment, Gil can feel the heat on his face. He can sense that Arthur isn’t trying to get too close to anyone here for his inevitable departure. Gilgamesh would break through that wall and drag him down, down with him.

He recalls what Medb did to Cu Chulainn, the honorable warrior, twisting him into her own personal toy by making him something he should never become, a beast, a _king_ , through the grail’s mud. First, he wants Arthur to trust him enough like he could eat from the palm of his hand. Then, Gilgamesh will break him into something new. Winning his heart as he was, then severing him from the fate that he was honor-bound to with the grail.

 

.iii

 

Arthur is hopelessly kind. He helps EMIYA in the kitchen, he plays with the dangerous children who inhabit Chaldea’s walls, he goes on long walks with his Master. Everyone loves him, and Gilgamesh measures just how much. They warn him Gilgamesh is—terrible, universally and cruelly, but Arthur gives him more and more chances because he finds their conversations intellectually stimulating, and Gilgamesh’s charisma is hard to ignore. Either way, Arthur is always wandering back into his web.

Chaldea will never forgive Gilgamesh for what he plans to do with Arthur, but oh well.

Gilgamesh catches him staring one day and asks why. Arthur looks sheepish for a moment, but finally remarks that well, Gilgamesh is beautiful. It’s hard not to look.

He’s used to the praise but never from Arthur. It feels like a victory, even if it’s just another part of Arthur’s hapless kindness, given to anyone without checking first who lurks under the interior. Gilgamesh is golden inside and out but looks were deceiving. He was so high above everyone else that they were mere ants to him, and only Arthur was allowed on his level. That haughty cruelty came from a long history of pride and conquest.

Arthur is whispering his attraction back to Gilgamesh and he’s greedily eating it up and returning it in scraps. “You aren’t blind, I’ll give you that.” ‘Mongrel’ nearly slips out of his mouth but he can’t find the will to call him that. “Feel free to lavish me with your praise, I know I have done plenty to earn it.”

Arthur looks amused, then continues. “You really are beautiful. Intelligent, too. I know what they say about you, but I think sometimes an ego is earned. The first hero in the world… I think it’d be odd if you were as humble as other servants. If there were no grand people like yourself, we wouldn’t have the Epic of Gilgamesh. There would be no pyramids, no ruins, and just like—”

“Stop.” Gilgamesh orders, disliking how the tone was shifting to praise Ozymandias instead of himself. This Arthur understood, at least a little, that forefathers had the right to pride. If only he carried himself in such a manner! “You’ve said enough.”

“Have I angered you?”

“On the contrary, I feel as though you needn’t go any further.” Not his Arturia. Not at all, this one had something special. The same history, the same morals and rigidity, but calm and understanding, nothing to prove. “Arthur, I’ve spent my life in observation of humanity and while I never doubted humankind’s entertainment value, I’ve never outright been impressed with it either. Perhaps I was looking in the wrong place. This universe is mine and mine alone, and yet it only contained a mirror of the thing I find myself desiring now.”

“A mirror…?”

“Reflecting back into a wormhole, something… too far away to reach for, beyond the ends of the universe. I will not share you, Arthur. I cannot.”

At first, Arthur is perplexed by his words, but warmth creeps into his cheeks when he realizes what Gilgamesh is saying. “A shame we’ll only know each other for so long.”

“A shame, isn’t it.” Gilgamesh knows something Arthur doesn’t, and that’s why he smiles.

 

iv.

 

He must improve on the design that Cu Alter is made with. It is sloppy, made of Medb’s lust and power, and results in an apathetic being who wants nothing but power and has no purpose outside of fighting without it.

The Grail can only grant wishes that are possible in the mind’s eye of the wisher, so he fixates on it. The pulse of whatever drags Arthur from place to place, he must kill it more certainly than King Hassan’s blade can. He must seal him in this universe forever and make it so that he doesn’t feel hatred out of this decision. Arthur must love him as surely as Gilgamesh desires him, and that’s why his seduction is taken so slowly and resolutely. Parting is such sweet sorrow between servants and masters, but that precious goodbye must never happen.

They do not hold hands, as that is beneath him, but they exchange sweet glances that speak of interest and affection. Gilgamesh talks at length about the world and how it’s changed and how he presides over it, and Arthur listens with interest. Sometimes he talks back to him, tempering his ego when it gets out of hand, but Gilgamesh enjoys the thorns along with the rose that catch his hand, it feels familiar and sweet.

Whether Arthur is falling for it or knowingly doing so is something Gilgamesh can’t tell. Maybe he is hungry for a face from home and is just using Gilgamesh to that end—such a reason would suit him just fine. He deserves his selfishness.

One time, during a rayshift, Gilgamesh sees Arthur nearly broken and bruised out of battle. He had stood to face a massive beast when only he and Gilgamesh remained standing tall, and had taken the brunt of the pain at the front line. This rayshift was unstable, and connection to Chaldea was weak. Mana supply seemed to flicker on and off, and he needed a good long time to rest. Gilgamesh stood by him, taking in his cuts and bruises earned from protecting him and Gilgamesh only thinks of rewards.

“Your healing is taking time,” He chides. Arthur looks embarrassed and turns to the side.

“I might have bit off more than I can chew.”

“Idiot. I have more than enough mana to endure what you endured. However, that leaves me in a good position now.”

“What?”

“If our mana supplies are rationed, then it’s only reasonable that I share.”

Without permission or warning, Gilgamesh brings him into a kiss that parts Arthur’s lips and between his teeth. He’s taken by complete surprise and doesn’t know a thing of what to do. It’s painful to move, but he isn’t pushing him away, either. When only a strand of saliva connects them, Gilgamesh smirks.

“Remove your clothes.” They were far enough away from the party that it wouldn’t be a problem. “I will supply you with what you need to protect our Master.”

“Gilgamesh…!” Arthur is breathless, and Gilgamesh takes it as a compliment.

“Surely you’re no virgin? Though this might be your first time with a man… no matter. Come.”

Arthur is helpless against his words, aches throbbing through every corner of his body that he doesn’t say no when Gilgamesh casts off his armor and fights Arthur’s off of him. His treasury comes in handy to make things comfortable. Arthur is breathless against him, fighting to press kisses against the red lines on Gilgamesh’s chest in an effort of romance that Gil thinks is simply in vain, but won’t complain to receive them. For once, Arthur is worshipping his body the way he’s always deserved, and he’ll ride him for all he’s worth now that he has his first chance to.

Arthur drapes across his frame the same way the tame lions used to in Uruk when they’re all finished.

Gilgamesh takes it as a good omen.

 

v.

 

Arthur cannot look him in the eyes for the time being, but that’s fine. He knows it’s out of embarrassment, an inner regret that he got too attached and now he’ll suffer for it when he leaves, but the good news is that Gilgamesh is going to have that all taken care of very soon.

Gilgamesh is quite proud he managed to seduce him successfully. Now, ever the gentleman, Arthur would talk to him as if he were courting him, so _laughably_ and yet so addictively. Gilgamesh was so wrapped up in his own games that he hadn’t yet considered that Arthur was changing him as he was changing Arthur. He considers himself immovable, like a stone tablet that weathered the test of time. He is unbreakable, and Arthur’s legend changed with whoever told it. Only one of them is malleable and soft.

He accompanies Ritsuka to Shinjuku with only one goal in mind; the Grail. He makes a deal with the Master that he’ll be the one to use it once they retrieve it, and in return, Gilgamesh decimates the gunmen, the animatronic beasts controlled by the Phantom, the Yakuza, anyone and anything. He watches Arturia Alter with a soft smile, but oddly, doesn’t pursue her. Enjoying watching her and wondering how Arthur would emerge with golden eyes and soft platinum blonde hair from the mud. Arturia Alter doesn’t fucking like him, with good reason.

Moriarty’s true nature doesn’t surprise him, either. Just another mongrel to erase to get back to Arthur. All of it is laughably easy, and for all the times Ritsuka is in peril, he’s one step ahead.

When they return to Chaldea, he immediately makes his way to the grail. Da Vinci stops him, infuriatingly.

“We still need to analyze it. I know Ritsuka promised this one to you…”

“Then hurry up and finish, _mongrel_. And don’t you dare fail to tell me when it’s ready.”

Da Vinci is a genius and doesn’t fail to take notice that Gilgamesh’s desire for a grail was a. suspicious and b. worrying. Consulting with Ritsuka might be necessary.

When Arthur meets him when he gets back, Gilgamesh storms angrily to him and presses a rude kiss to his lips, uncaring of who was watching and certainly not worrying about Arthur’s dignity. He basically pushed him to the side, after, leaving him dazed and confused as to what the hell was going on in his head.

“Wait, what’s wrong?” Arthur unconsciously wiped his lips of the saliva trail at the corner.

“Nothing. Don’t concern yourself with my problems.”

“Of course I’m concerned! What happened in Shinjuku?”

“…”

Gilgamesh calms himself and turns toward Arthur with a stiff smile. “It really is nothing that concerns you.”

“Are you okay…? Do you—” He stops himself, suddenly.

“Do I _what.”_

“It’s nothing.”

“Out with it.”

“Do you… need mana.” Arthur’s voice lowered in a whisper. “I just thought—”

Gilgamesh’s mood picked up quite a bit at that. “I don’t, but I’ll take you up on the offer anyway.”

Unspoken, just like that. A distraction to his troubles. That’s how they would call upon each other from now on. “Ah… okay.”

 

vi.

 

In his bed, Arthur still lays sleeping. Gilgamesh looks down at him and wonders how trusting this dog could be.

All this time, he’d been plotting to keep him, and Arthur is still thinking of him. It’s convenient in a maddening way. Shouldn’t this be harder? Oh, right, he’d been plotting and manipulating this entire time, of course it’s easy. Arthur trusts him because he thinks he’s seeing all there is to him and there is so much more. Or maybe… Arthur sees it, and can’t stop himself from caring anyway? That would be another convenient mess. He brushes his bangs from his face and gets up.

No one has contacted him about the grail yet. He’s starting to think they might not give it to him.

Does he…

… still want to use it?

The fact that he asks himself at all leads him on a path of self denial. Of course he does, he won’t keep Arthur if he doesn’t. Smirking to himself, he thinks he might even change for the better. Arturia Alter was something he could expect out of that, but—

… damn it.

Some things were beautiful because you can’t obtain them.

Gilgamesh’s own words, yet he’s starting to spitefully reject the notion of giving Arthur up to anything—to Gods, to the Universe, to his heroic quest.

This man—who had been made in Arturia’s image, his toy, his dartboard for his affection—was invoking something Gilgamesh never cared to feel. Gilgamesh thinks about how even the Throne of Heroes doesn’t hold Arthur’s name, that he’ll go somewhere else when Ritsuka’s life is up, and his resolve is doubled. He will use his wish to make Arthur **stay**. He will perfect the art that Medb started and absolutely nothing at all is going to stop him—ever. There is no such thing as a weak heart beating in Gilgamesh’s body, and he certainly won’t relinquish something he’s chained to himself so steadily. Arthur should have known better; yes, Arthur should have listened to everyone when they told him to stay away from Gilgamesh. Reject him, and he might have found you boring.

“You are _mine_ ,” He says hungrily to the sleeping form, grinning down at him, letting his fleeting doubts slip away.

He dresses himself and heads for the control room.

 

vii.

 

The grail is handed to him, after much debate on what to do with it.

Granting Gilgamesh’s wish might be dangerous, but it would help him grow stronger in the long run, right?

He stares at the grail for but a moment, then… puts it in his treasury, without making a single wish. He then turned and left.

Arthur with golden eyes would disgust him—he favored the green far better.

Arthur as a mindless slave would bore him—he could find anyone else to fill the role.

Arthur as a dispassionate drone who only lived for fucking or fighting would be dull—why on Earth had he thought of following an idiot like Medb’s example?

He has a long time to figure out what to do about Arthur’s ‘problem’, in that he’d leave eventually, something without such rushed, distasteful results. As he wanders back into his room, Arthur sat up and smiled at him.

“Did you get your grail? What were you going to wish for?”

“Wishing for something hardly matters.  What matters is it’s back in my treasury, where it should be.”

Gilgamesh sits back on the bed as Arthur gets dressed. He stares at him as if he’s angry, like he’s done something wrong by convincing him that he’d be _boring_ if he were different. He immediately turns his head away from him.

“You irritate me in the most profound ways. You’re lucky I favor you so much.”

Arthur gave him a ‘haha, what?’ look. Gilgamesh simply ignored him.

“The sacrifices I make… you had better appreciate them, King of Knights.”

With that, Gilgamesh left the room, both brooding over and praising himself for his apparent selflessness.


End file.
